-- Tech stocks were higher Wednesday afternoon, with the State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) gaining 1.9% and the State Street SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) adding 1.3%.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor index climbed 2.3%.
In corporate news, Microsoft (MSFT) has appointed Daniel Shapero to become the chief executive of LinkedIn, the company's executive vice president Ryan Roslansky said in a LinkedIn post Wednesday. Microsoft shares were up 1.8%.
Tongyang Life Insurance (KRX:082640) plans to retire about 5.3 million treasury shares, valued at 46.7 billion won, according to a Friday filing with the Korea Exchange.The shares will be retired on April 30 at a par value of 5,000 won apiece.Shares of Tongyang Life Insurance rose more than 1% at market close.
Huadong Medicine's (SHE:000963) attributable profit rose 9.6% to 1.00 billion yuan in the first quarter from 914.7 million yuan in the year-ago period, according to a Friday filing with the Shenzhen bourse.Earnings per share at the drug maker increased to 0.5715 yuan from 0.5213 yuan in the prior-year period.Operating income grew 4.2% year over year to 11.2 billion yuan from 10.7 billion yuan.Shares increased 3% during afternoon trading on Friday.
Producer prices in Spain rose 3.4% year over year in March, following a revised 6.9% decrease previously, data from the National Statistics Institute showed Friday.On a monthly basis, the industrial price index was 6.5% higher, after a revised 3% decline in February.